Malintzin/Doña Marina: the role of the 'Tongue'

Translating and interpreting is probably one of the oldest jobs on earth. Since the dawn of statehood, interactions with 'foreigners' have been underpinned by the ability of understanding the other's language; ways of expression are keys to the other's culture too, whose understanding can greatly enhance the quality and outcome of any diplomatic activity.

One of the most famous (or notorious, depending on the viewpoint) and crucial interpreters ever existed is probably Malintzin, a woman who played a key role during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire of Mexico in the early sixteenth century. Known as 'Doña Marina' by her fellow Europeans, Malintzin's figure is known today through numerous accounts which are often in disagreement with each other. For some, it is thanks to 'la Lengua' (lit. the 'Tongue') that an early understanding was possible between the incoming Spaniards and the suspicious Aztecs; for others, she is the ultimate betrayer to her own people. The latter view has particularly been voiced by later authors throughout the history of modern Mexico who wished to take their distance with and criticise the Europeanised upper sections of their society.

There are several comprehensive studies on the ways Malintzin has been portrayed by modern and contemporary Mexican authors since the eighteenth century. In this article, however, I only want to focus on the oldest extant records about this mysterious woman - the ones produced in the early Colonial period (1500s to early 1600s), aiming to reconstruct her historical role and importance during the conquest of central Mexico. The subsequent analysis of the sources will be threefold: first, I will present Malintzin as described by the Spanish conquistadores; secondly, I will analyse her figure from the Tlaxcalans’ point of view (the Tlaxcalans being enemies of the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan); finally, I will focus on the accounts of the conquered natives, the Aztecs of Tenochtitlanand Tlatelolco (the former's sister city).

1. The Spaniards’ records

Among the several accounts written by the conquistadors, there are two which are particularly important for our purpose: Hernán Cortés’s Cartas de Relación and The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo. Prior to analysing their records on Malintzin, it will be useful to make a comparison between these two different points of view on the Conquest. This is a fundamental exercise, as both sources provide a different perspective on Doña Marina herself due to their different nature.

Cortés’s Cartas de Relación (better known as Letters from Mexico) are the official account of all the military achievements made by the conquistador in name of the king of Spain and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V. In addressing his sovereign, Cortés tries both to justify and to glorify his conquests, sometimes even exaggerating some of the details (for instance, see the description of the Tlatelolco Market in Cortés, 1999, Letter II, 109-110). On the other hand, he tends to reduce the importance of the vital help he received from his native allies in battling the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan; this also includes Malintzin’s role as interpreter. Indeed, Cortés mentions his aider only twice throughout his papers. The first time, he refers to her as “my interpreter, a native of this land that I got at Potonchan” and acknowledges her part in foiling the alleged ambush the inhabitants of Cholula (a nearby town centre) seem to have organised against the Spaniards (Cortés, 1999, 78). The second time Cortés spells her name out (“Marina, the interpreter who used to accompany me everywhere”) and records her dialogue with a chief in the region of Tabasco aiming to convince him to surrender to Spanish rule (Cortés, 1999, 385).

Cortés's journey through Mexico up to the Aztec/Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan. Image from MapBox; Juan Miralles.

As we can see, Malintzin’s presence in Cortés’s narrative is hardly mentioned, let alone acknowledged. However, we get a different perspective if we turn to the narrative of Bernal Díaz del Castillo. As he explicitly states, several accounts of the expedition were written “to whet the curious reader’s appetite” (Díaz 1963, 14). Hence, the retired soldier titled his work The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, distancing himself from what he considered mere falsities and misinterpretations. Díaz’s record is undoubtedly more picturesque than Cortés’s one, with a major attention to details and to the cultural traditions of the natives (for instance, see the vivid description of some local priests in Díaz 1963,123-124). In The True History, Malintzin’s role and participation in the Spanish expedition are paramount; and even though some of the details and figures might have been inflated, Díaz’s narrative was not meant to be either an official document addressed to His Majesty nor an official way to glorify its author.

Díaz tells us that Malintzin/Marina was a highborn, the daughter of a local ruler in the region of Tabasco (on the Gulf of Mexico), and that she had been sold as a slave at the age of eight after her father’s death. Years later, she was given to Cortés as a gift along with other nineteen women when his party reached and conquered the area (Díaz 1963, 85-87). We also have a glimpse of both her physical appearance and personality: she was “goodlooking, intelligent, and self-assured” (1963, 82), “an excellent person, and a good interpreter in all the wars of New Spain, Tlaxcala, and Mexico” whom Cortés “always took with him” (1963, 85). Most importantly, however, Díaz points out a key factor: he admits that, “without Doña Marina, we could not have understood the language of New Spain and Mexico” (1963, 87). She thus represented (initially, at least) the only way to establishing a meaningful dialogue with the great lords of central Mexico, as she could translate Nahuatl (the local language) into Yucatec Maya to a Spaniard, Geronimo de Aguilár, who, in turn, translated Maya into Spanish for Cortés (later on Malintzin caught up with her Spanish lessons, thus becoming the main channel of communication).

Díaz also praises some of her other skills. For instance, while the Spanish contingent was in Cempoala (a town in the eastern region), “Doña Marina was not only quite capable of explaining them (the inhabitants) in their language, but also threatened them with the power of Moctezuma, who might fall on them any day” (1963, 123); not only was she capable of translating, therefore, but she was also a shrewd individual, showing an understanding of what was going on around her and the capability of contributing actively to the expedition. Later on, during the war with Tlaxcala, Díaz seems charmed by her “manly valour” and her courage, "greater than that of a woman” (1963, 153). During the massacre of natives in Cholula, the former soldier highlights her cunning and loyalty: Malintzin pretended to accept an old Cholulan woman’s offer of marrying her son (thus avoiding the imminent massacre), but then secretly revealed the Cholulans' plot to Cortés, who promptly slaughtered the locals (Díaz 1963, 196-197). We can thus easily understand the joy Díaz and other soldiers felt when they saw Malintzin arriving sane and safe in Tlacopan after fleeing Tenochtitlan during the so-called Noche Triste - a native revolt which pushed the Spanish garrison out of the city (Díaz 1963, 302); losing her would have meant losing the possibility to communicate with the natives, thus jeopardising (and, probably, putting an end to) the whole expedition.

2. The native allies: "El Lienzo de Tlaxcala"

Even though it was painted during the early Colonial period, the Lienzo de Tlaxcala provides us with a singular account of the conquest: it is the pictorial representation of the Tlaxcalan point of view of the events (Tlaxcala was an adjacent state enemy to the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan).

Malintzin is given a primary role in these scenes: she is represented over 20 times throughout the whole narrative. As some images clearly show, she was seen by the Tlaxcalans as the contact point between the two cultures – indigenous and Spanish. As such, she is usually depicted in a central position, especially when the Spaniards are painted whilst entering a city for the first time and speaking with the local ruler. More in detail, Malintzin is often illustrated in the middle of the whole composition, between Cortés and the tlatoani (the native ruler), thus symbolising her nature of unique communication channel between the two worlds (see Camilla Townsend 2006, 63).

The Spaniards are here shown entering the city of Yliyocan and being greeted by the local rulers, who offer them some goods. Note how Malintzin is depicted in the middle of the composition, pointing at Cortés and identifying him as the expedition's chief. Image from El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, plate 2.

In some scenes, Malintzin is shown while pointing out Cortés to the local ruler: this gesture identifies him as the commander to the natives’ eyes. Such a typical and frequent gesture is also recorded by Bernal Díaz (for instance, see 1963, 88, in occasion of the first meeting with Moctezuma’s ambassadors; see also Diego Durán 1994, 499). Her importance is also shown by sometime depicting her figure bigger than Cortés himself. According to Bernal Díaz (1963, 302), it was the Tlaxcalans who protected Malintzin and the other women of the expedition during the Noche Triste (the night when the Spanish were chased out of Tenochtitlan by the natives); this might be an additional confirmation of the reverence and respect the Tlaxcalans had for her. Moreover, her presence and prominence in the representation of the massacre of Cholula might be a confirmation of the conquistadors’ accounts related above; nevertheless, she undoubtedly played a central role in the event, aside from its truthfulness.

Astonishingly, Malintzin is also painted bearing weapons in two occasions. The first time, she is represented with a shield and a sword while fighting the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan along with the Spanish during their retreat towards Tlaxcala; the second time she is depicted carrying a shield during the siege of the Aztec capital. Such illustrations might show that Malintzin was actually more than just a mere interpreter; she was a woman who may have truly believed in the Spaniards and their cause, as images of her beside the Holy Cross might also symbolise.

Malintzin painted while bearing a sword and a shield during the battle at Tepotzotlan against the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan. El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, plate 22.

The natives are taking part in a mass, receiving Eucharist from a friar painted in the middle of the scene. Cortés is witnessing the event, while carrying the Cross in his right hand. An image of the Virgin Mary and Child is depicted beside him. Note Malintzin standing just behind Cortés. El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, plate 8.

Related to this, it is important to analyse the meeting between Cortés and the Aztec emperor Moctezuma as painted in this codex. As the tlatoani is backed by some noblemen (members of his family, as the Spanish chroniclers tell us; see Cortés 1999, 89-90; Díaz 1963, 217), Malintzin is the only figure depicted behind Cortés. This might symbolise, in the Tlaxcalans' eyes, that she had the same function and importance for Cortés as the Aztec noblemen had for Moctezuma. Historian Nigel Davies also supports this view, defining Malintzin Cortés’s “adviser on native affairs” (1973, 238).

Cortés meets Moctezuma in Tenochtitlan. Note the noblemen behind the tlatoani and Malintzin behind Cortés, depicted in the same position. El Lienzo de Tlaxcala, plate 11.

3. The conquered enemies: the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan/Tlatelolco

Aztec accounts of the conquest are preserved in early Colonial works such as the Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España of friar Bernardino de Sahagún, the Historia de Las Indias de Nueva España of friar Diego Durán and Alvarado Tezozómoc’s Cronica Mexicana.

In friar Durán’s account Malintzin is not given such a prominent role; nonetheless, she is actually mentioned as the interpreter in many key points of the narrative (for instance, see Durán 1994, 523 for the meeting between Cortés and Moctezuma; or 1994, 556 for the final dialogue between Cortés and the new emperor Cuauhtemoc). Alvarado Tezozómoc’s chronicle too lacks references to her; she is only once addressed as “la señora de la lengua” (‘the interpreter’), while Moctezuma is said to have admired her linguistic skills (Tezozómoc 2001, 473).

In friar Sahagún’s Historia, the defeated Aztecs recall Malintzin as “a woman from among us people here”, who “brought them (the Spanish) there and interpreted for them” (Sahagún 1950-1978, Book XII, 25). As in the Lienzo the Tlaxcala, she is painted in a central position when playing her role of interpreter, showing us that the Aztecs of the capital city too saw her as a sort of contact point between the two worlds.

Malintzin playing her vital role of interpreter between the two groups. Florentine Codex, Book XII, plate 44.

Furthermore, when the Spaniards arrived in Tenochtitlan for the first time and were lodged in the late emperor Axayacatl’s palace, Malintzin is said to have climbed “upon a roof terrace, upon a terrace parapet” and to have imperiously requested the inhabitants of the city to bring food and fresh water to the fatigued Spanish soldiers (Sahagún 1950-1978, Book XII, 49). Although Malintzin was probably ordered by Cortés to do so, it is interesting to notice how the Mexica remembered her in such an authoritative fashion.

Florentine Codex, Book XII, plate 51. Malintzin is depicted upon a roof terrace while ordering to a local to bring food and water to the Spaniards.

There is also a curious anecdote which is worth mentioning. In his Historia verdadera, Bernal Díaz recounts that the natives were used to call Cortés ‘Malinche’ when addressing him; “the reason why he received this name was that Doña Marina was always with him […] and she always spoke to them (the ambassadors) in the Mexican language. So they gave Cortés the name of ‘Marina’s Captain’, which was shortened to Malinche” (Díaz 1963, 172). Scholar Camilla Townsend provides a possible explanation that might help to clarify this oddity. She argues that “Malintzin was the initial reference point (for the natives), for she was the speaker […]. Tlatoani meant ‘he who speaks’. She was not a ruler, but there were probably moments when it appeared as though she had comparable powers” (Townsend 2006, 56). Perhaps Moctezuma’s admiration for her in Alvarado Tezozómoc’s chronicle and her authoritarian depiction in the Florentine Codex may be viewed in such a light too.

Conclusion

In all the sources available to us today, Malintzin is described or depicted as "The Interpreter". Her personality must have been so prominent that the painter of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala ‘forgot’ to represent beside her the other interpreter, Geronimo de Aguilár. As a unique communication channel, Malintzin can really be considered the only (at least at the beginning) point of contact between the New and the Old Worlds, the one who made the conquest of central Mexico possible by aiding the Spaniards to make alliances with other native groups and cities against the powerful Aztecs of Tenochtitlan. We will never know for sure why Malintzin decided to cooperate with the Spanish; the only certain thing is that, without her, history would probably be different today.

Bibliography

- Barlow R.H. and Graulich M. (eds), 1995. Codex Azcatitlan. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Société des Américanistes.

- Cortés H., 1999. La Conquista del Messico (translated by L. Pranzetti). Milano: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli.

- Cypess, S. M. 1991. La Malinche in Mexican Literature: From History to Myth. Austin: University of Texas Press.

- Davies N., 1973. The Aztecs. London: Macmillan London Ltd.

- De la Torre M. (ed.), 1983. El Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Mexico: Cartón y Papel de México, S.A. de C.V.

- Díaz del Castillo B., 1963. The Conquest of New Spain (translated by J.M. Cohen). London: Penguin Group.

- Durán D., 1994. The History of the Indies of New Spain (translated by D. Heyden). Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press.

- Hugh T., 1993. The Conquest of Mexico. London: Hutchinson.

- Sahagún, B. de, 1950-1978. Florentine Codex. General History of the Things of New Spain (translated by A.J.O. Anderson and C. Dibble). Santa Fe: The School of American Research and The University of Utah.

- Tezozómoc, H. de A., 2001. Crónica Mexicana. Édicion de Gonzalo Díaz Migayo y Germán Vázquez Chamorro. Madrid: Dastin.

- Townsend C., 2006. Malintzin’s Choices. An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.